Youth Speakers Bureau
These Canadians are expert speakers who can educate and speak on issues of discrimination and diversity in Canada. These persons have triumphed over discrimination and work to promote diversity in Canada. The service connects you with a variety of speakers, who can speak in schools and communities.
Speakers
Jeremy Dias | Shelly Rabinovitch
Jeremy Dias
Jeremy Dias is the Founder and Executive Director
of Jer's Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative. He was
born in Edmonton, Alberta, and grew up there until moving to Sault
Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he attended high school. As a youth,
he was motivated by social and political inequality to take action,
volunteering with numerous organizations and charities, including
Stop Racism, Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving, the Heart
and Stroke Foundation, the Diabetes Foundation, the Algoma AIDS
Network, and many more. Jer also founded and coordinated the Sault
Ste. Marie region's first LGBTQ youth group. Currently, he is studying
psychology and political science at the University of Ottawa; and
is proud to have held numerous prestigious positions, including
National Youth Leader for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada;
Community Liaison for Bruce House; Miss Campus Pride for 2004-2005;
and the GLBT Awareness Award.
Lecture Topics: Youth challenges; Youth Motivation; LGBTQ and youth; LGBTQ in Canada; LGBTQ and visible minority; visible minority and youth; visible minority in Canada; marginalizing people; impaired driving and youth; (particularly different youth). (Other topics available, please inquire.)
Location: Ottawa, ON
Language: Bilingual (French, English)
Contact: info@jersvision.org
Shelly Rabinovitch
Shelley Rabinovitch (Ph.D.) teaches in both religious studies and
women's studies at the University of Ottawa. She was Ottawa's first
woman radio news reporter/announcer during the 1980s, and after
a few years off deciding what tickled her fancy next, she returned
to university for graduate work. Her studies have focussed on very
non-traditional religions, including modern Paganism, First Nations,
and folk religion. She is an anthropologist and folklorist who uses
popular culture examples to explain how deeply imbedded discrimination
is in North American culture. She grew up in a religious minority
household, and also deals with discrimination on a day to day basis
due to her disabilities and her size.
Lecture Topics: sizeism; religious discrimination; "othering" and marginalizing people (particularly visible minorities); Aboriginal women in North America; LGBTQ issues; polyamory; BDSM as subculture; religious expression; modern Paganism and Goddess worship; Neo-Satanism. (Other topics available, please inquire.)
Location: Ottawa, ON
Language: Bilingual (French, English)
Contact: tsivia@uottawa.ca